Hero Group’s Dr Brijmohan Lall: all about humility and human connect

The founder of the Hero Group, Dr Brijmohan Lall Munjal, passed away in Delhi on 1 November at 92.

Fondly remembered as ‘Papaji’, Dr BM Munjal was known for his interpersonal relationships and humility and at one of the SIAM annual conventions in Delhi, this correspondent found herself seated next to him at one of the sessions. Eager not to miss an opportunity for an interaction, I turned around and asked him if I could meet up with him later for an insight on Hero.

BM Munjal smiled but shook his head saying that since he was no longer the chairman of the company, he had left the business details and interactions to his younger sons. Today, that exchange is a memory to cherish.

Someone who knew him very closely is Nipun Malhotra, executive director of Nipman Fastener Industries who recounts that Dr BM Munjal was a grandfather first for him. Describing him as deeply interested in people, Malhotra says that Dr Munjal used to take personal interest in all his 30 grandchildren’s lives. Not an easy task by any means and also picked up the threads of the conversation with them from where they had last ended the last time they had met.

It was a joke in the Munjal family that all important business decisions were taken in the verandah of their old model town house in Ludhiana, Punjab where the Munjals lived in the 1950s. All through the 1960s and 1970s, both Dr Brijmohan Lall Munjal and his brother OP Munjal shared a single house, each living along with their five children, and also shared a single car between them. Nipun’s mother is the youngest daughter of OP Munjal.

He narrates how both the brothers used to brush their teeth in the morning in the wash basins that were located in opposite directions in the verandah of their home and while doing so look in the mirror and exchange notes about their business. Right through the ‘60s and ‘70s this morning ritual of discussions and enjoying their morning cuppa afterwards sitting there continued.

In the ‘80s BM Munjal had shifted to Delhi where he entered into a partnership with Honda for the manufacture of Hero Honda two-wheelers. It is said that Honda had a lot of choices for an Indian partner but chose Hero because the Japanese were impressed with Dr BM Munjal’s humility. The rest as they say is history.

Chairman emeritus of Hero MotoCorp, Dr Brijmohan Lall Munjal is also considered a father figure to the industry and known for his connect with his suppliers, dealers and those interacting with him. In fact he gave breakthroughs to many fledgling entrepreneurs, bringing them into Hero’s supply chain much on the lines of Maruti Suzuki.

One such start-up was Nipman Fastener Industries and Pravin Malhotra, managing director, who is married to OP Munjal’s daughter, recounted how BM Munjal  mentored him when he was working in his father’s steel plants handling production. Thereafter, he gave him the big break, drawing him into Hero’s supply chain in the late ‘90s. At the time, the need for indigenisation of some critical components like fasteners that were then imported by Hero was required to reduce costs across their product portfolio. This gave Nipman the much-needed impetus and it became a supplier of this component that holds the vehicle together.   Since then Malhotra has never looked back and has been on a growth spree thanks to BM Munjal.

A Padma Bhushan recipient and a first-generation entrepreneur, Brijmohan Lall led the Hero Group to a number of firsts. Under his leadership, Hero Cycles became the world’s largest manufacturer of bicycles since 1986 and also made its mark in the Guinness Book of World Records.  

Hero MotoCorp (formerly Hero Honda Motors Ltd) is also the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer now for 14 consecutive years. 

The Hero Group also successfully diversified into other business ventures under Dr Lall such as auto ancillary, financial services, renewable energy, education and electronics.  

“He was a father figure to the industry and his passing away is a big loss to the industry and to the nation,” says Vinnie Mehta, executive director of ACMA, who knew him for the last five years. He says Munjal was an inspiration to all and created a large supplier base. Interestingly, he knew all his suppliers and dealers by their first names and whenever he met them he would enquire about their families and how each was doing in life. 

“We as a part of the automotive industry will miss him. He was one of the finest business leaders the industry can ever have,” adds NK Minda, chairman of the UNO Minda Group.

A philanthropist, Dr. Brijmohan Lall will always be remembered for his vision of sound business governance and value driven management practices. Unaffected by fame, and modest by demeanour, he will be an inspiration to everyone in the Hero family and the automotive industry.   

Elaborating on his grand uncle, Nipun says Dr Brijmohan Lall Munjal believed in the country when no one did – it was his audacity that brought Honda to India and the JV’s success under him opened doors for various multinationals.

“While ‘Make in India’ has become a fashionable punchline today, it was luminaries of industry like OP Munjal and Dr BM Munjal who were practising it ever since they instituted Hero Cycles in the 1950s to their last day. It would be a fitting tribute by the government to posthumously recognise Dr BM Munjal with a national award like Bharat Ratna and OP Munjal with a Padma Vibhushan,” he concludes.

Also read: Brijmohan Lall Munjal- A 'fatherly figure'